HM Equine Services in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia | Pet service

HM Equine Services

Locality: Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 467 681 474

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24.01.2022 Gratitude I am so thankful to have had the support from these wonderful professionals this year: Nicole Umback of Rock On Equine Services - sports therapy + Mark Peel of Mark Peel Farrier. DipWcf, Cert III Aus, Eurofarrier... Kathryn Christieson of Firenza Park Equine Services This year I have had too many unfortunate hospital trips, leaving me unable to trim for periods at a time, as well as University placements taking me away from Wagga for extended periods of time. My current incident is a spiral fracture of metacarpal 4 in my right hand (aka fractured bone in hand, which an animal did not do!). I am so lucky to be able to work with other professionals in the industry to help me get things done in the lead up to Christmas.

23.01.2022 A gorgeous morning for a sunrise lesson before class. Thankyou to Clare Anderson Performance Horses & Equestrian for coming out for another great lesson with Darcy.

22.01.2022 Is caudal hoof failure really an issue? There are those that question the seriousness of the term caudal hoof collapse/failure often mocking the terminology.... However in reality it’s no laughing matter. It reminds me of the saying for want of a nail the war was lost For want of a nail the shoe was lost. For want of a shoe the horse was lost. For want of a horse the rider was lost. For want of a rider the message was lost. For want of a message the battle was lost. For want of a battle the kingdom was lost. And all for the want of a horseshoe nail This saying isn’t about losing a shoe, it about seemingly unimportant acts or omissions having grave and unforeseen consequences! The reality is caudal hoof collapse has been over looked for so long it has become normality, yet, it’s consequences are profound, not just for the hoof but the whole horse. More and more studies are emerging linking this omission with pathology across the entire musculoskeletal system. Dyson (2011) and Clements (2019) both state under run heels as the most common hoof morphology. Dyson highlighted that the amount of caudal hoof failure correlated with the severity of lameness. So clearly it is a industry wide issue. The health of the caudal hoof directly affects heel to toe height ratios. This directly affects phalangeal alignment and the position of the point of force and balance around the centre of rotation as the long toe, low heel conformation becomes apparent. The increased extensor moment arms created by these factors mean an increased strain in the flexor structures, which is why there is study after study linking conformations as a result of caudal hoof failure directly with Navicular syndrome in the fronts. Waguespack et al (2010-2014) Ruff et al. (2016) Uhl et al. (2018) Osbourne et al (2019). In the hind feet the links are also starting to be widely established, but with higher pathologies. Mannsman at al (2010) Pezzanite et al. (2018) Clements et al. (2019) Walmsley et al (2019). As Dyson stated that caudal hoof failure is directly linked to lameness and we know that horses compensate for lameness with spinal stiffening creating back pain it’s implications extend again. So from this we can clearly see that caudal hoof collapse is most certainly an issue and can not be ignored any more. For want of a healthy caudal hoof....

20.01.2022 Wagga friends! This seasons first cut Lucerne/ryegrass is now available and has already been carted into the shed. Delivery can be organised at a small fee for loads 100+ Grab load available for flat deck trailers ... Located Borambola (30min east of Wagga) $9 a bale inc GST Call or text Mark to arrange a pickup or delivery 0434130851

20.01.2022 It’s Friday!!! How gorgeous was/is this morning? The trees are in full bloom and after the thunderstorm last night it’s a bit cooler and feeling very refreshing.

19.01.2022 Just 1 1/2 weeks left of placement for 2020 before travelling home in time for Christmas! I’m looking to book trims in the lead up to Christmas and will have Kathryn from Firenza Park Equine Services here to give me some help to catch everyone up. While Kathryn is here she has offered to fit hoof boots for anyone who is interested. If this is something that would be of interest to you please contact me so I can ensure we put aside adequate time during your appointment. Ka...thryn carries fit kits for: Scoot Boots Equine Fusion Boots Easy care Gloves PLUS a range of other boots in different sizes so she can discuss what is going to be the best option for you and your horse(s). If you’re considering boots for you horse(s), send me a message and we can arrange time at your next trim for a fitting!

18.01.2022 How cool is it that you could compete your horse in dressage in both saddle and harness? Who else does this or would like to?

15.01.2022 And they’re off Foals Lyric (left) and her friend Freddie (right) are out to galavant across the paddocks whilst I’m in Tamworth for the next 4 weeks for my next placements. I’m so thankful to have such a wonderful team at home to look after my 4 legged family whilst I pursue my degree.

15.01.2022 As another week draws to a close, I want to take this time to reflect and thank everyone for being a part of my life in one way or another. As the silly season approaches, we will see an increase number of vehicles on the road (including ourselves). Just this morning, I was one of the 1st to a truck rollover on my way into town, and another 10 k’s down the road I came across another truck that was driving erratically and could’ve caused another serious accident. It is in th...is time that we should learn to take care of ourselves, get more sleep and look out for others who may be doing it tough. Just this afternoon, a grass fire across the road started and began spreading. We are so thankful that whilst it was a hot day, the wind was mild and it was contained quickly; by the wonderful RFS, police and neighbours who all dropped what they were doing to lend a hand. What a wonderful community to be in when it times the world seems so disconnected. I ask for others to put their phone on do not disturb at night to get that extra bit of sleep they may need, and reach out to others just to check in on how they’re going. Which brings me to ask, how are YOU going? Picture of the gorgeous Ned, on Monday evening for his routine trim. I couldn’t have picked a better subject and background; just excuse the trimmer.

14.01.2022 Mixed emotions today. Darcy enjoyed a casual stoll through the river red gums and creek this afternoon before heading off too Clare Anderson Performance Horses & Equestrian to further his educations and be put up for sale. I absolutely adore Darcy, but due to being home only for a few weeks at a time with uni placements and other committments, I have had to make the heavy decision to find Darcy a home where he can shine rather than sit in the paddock.

13.01.2022 How time flies! Little Rosie was ~8 weeks old in the first photo and is now a yearling! You forget how big they’re getting when you see them every 5-6 weeks! I am so thankful for being able to follow the journeys of foals from choosing the stallion and preg scanning, to first trim, to starting under saddle (not yet for Rosie). ... Enjoy the journey

12.01.2022 Out. Misaligned. Subluxation. Popped.... What do these terms have in common? They are all incorrectly used to describe Musculoskeletal issues with horses. But wait you say, my therapist has been doing this for ages/is actually trained and qualified so they must be right, right? If they say my horse is out at the poll, out at the hip, misaligned in the neck, popped a rib.. I should believe them shouldn't I? No. Skeletal joints very rarely go out. They are strong, well designed connections designed to support a 500kg horse moving at speed over all kinds of terrain, if something goes out, it's a trauma and will probably need a vet, and a shovel. So why do people talk about things being out? Several reasons: they don't understand anatomy and genuinely think that's what has happened, they are lazy and don't want to educate and explain to the client what has happened, they learnt from someone who they trusted and genuinely think they are on the right track so unintentionally continue to spread misinformation. Ok.. if it's not out, what are they feeling/finding? Imagine 4 spinal vertebra in a row, so there's 3 joints. These vertebra connect at 3 points, the round vertebral head and the 2 facet joints. That's 3 points of movement and connection surrounded by ligaments and muscles designed to allow movement but not past a certain point... for each joint. Now, imagine pushing on each vertebra, push it away from you. The vertebra will give, or translate, and the joint moves to allow it. It's a small range of motion, but it's there. (You can practice the feeling by asking a friend if you can gently push on their spine.. gently!) Push along the imaginary vertebra, until you come to the 3rd one. It doesn't move, it feels stiff or restricted, the joint doesn't open. This is what people say is out. "It's out of line, its misaligned" they think because it's not following the normal range and line of motion it's out of line. It's not! I can assure you, all 3 points of connection are still very much attached and in the correct place. They just aren't moving. The correct or more accurate term would be restricted, because that's all it is. Some also call it an osteopathic lesion or somatic dysfunction, depending of their schooling. What has happened is that the muscles and tendons have become looped in a neuromuscular contraction some call a Gamma Loop. How did that happen? Stress, trauma, incorrect biomechanics, pain - some of the obvious triggers. The joint perhaps tried to over extend, or was held in an unusual position for a time. Then the neuromuscular spindle and Golgi tendon spindle engaged to prevent overextending and joint trauma but the signal to contract the muscles and tendons to protect from injury became stuck on, causing the brace and immobility you feel when you pushed on the vertebra. So, now is when you would be told they are going to 'put it back in'. This can take many forms, and we have all seen various techniques. Jerking legs really high and hard, cranking necks around to the side, forcing heads to chests, thumping on ribs from 2 foot away, thrusting down on the spine, the use of rubber mallets, chiropractic activators, tennis balls. You get the idea. But they are not putting anything back in place... it wasn't out to start with. What they should ( or by luck might be) doing is delivering a shock to the restricted joint and associated soft tissue to switch off the gamma loop that's happily but misguidedly saying don't move, danger! Sometimes this is a small movement, sometimes it may be a larger movement. Sometimes side of ease side of barrier passive stretching is enough. They are not, can not and will not move the vertebrae. Physical impossibility. (True subluxations and luxations are very rare, and require X-rays, anaesthesia and several very experienced people to correct, depending on the area affected) Edited to add: chiropractics uses the term subluxation to refer to the gamma loop dysfunction.. however this is generally not explained well to clients if at all in many cases and the image in people minds is of a partial or full dislocation. I have also heard the terms subluxation and out used in the same conversation referring to the same issue on several occasions, hence my reason for including it in my incorrectly used words. If you are a therapist who uses the word correctly and explains it to your clients then understand I am not tarring you with the same brush. Once the neurological restrictions are released, the joint will very quickly return to normal range of motion. Experienced therapists will check the joint before and after a mobilisation. If they are not, how do you know it's "fixed"? Knowledge of anatomy and neurology is essential for correct effective assessment and mobilisation. Next time someone says your horse is out, you can take the comment with a grain of salt, and smile knowing you now know what is actually happening. I think we should start a protest movement... #outtheout Edited 10.7.2017 to add... I wrote this post 4 days ago fairly quickly after seeing yet another therapist post using some of these terms. It's a very frustrating point for me, and I tell people all the time the terminology is misleading and wrong. I was not expecting 1.2k shares, over 300 comments (I thought I would get the usual 40 likes and a couple of shares from my clients), if I had I would have tidied up some points... I don't hate chiropractic or osteopaths, I am in my 4th year of Equine Osteopathy myself.. I think they are great modalities. I am well aware other factors can cause a joint to become immobile, arthritis, fusing etc.. but again, this was to address terminology not encompass all that could be going on. yes, there is a visceral link as well, but again, this was about terminology. I will go into the visceral aspect soon. some joints have large ranges of movement, and parts seem quite mobile, but they are still "in" the joint, I will follow this one up too. some therapies are interpreting this post as a we (soft tissue) are better than chiro/Osteo.... actually it's not like that, my current education says to me that you can't have one and not the other.. learn to love each other peoples. in the end, I don't mind what terms you use, as long as no one thinks their horses spine looks like a stair, or that the shoulder is like a lego piece that just "popped out".

12.01.2022 Second trim on a riding pony x with EMS. Pre- initial trim radiographs were taken to assess internal structures and diet changes made. Pony has been since purchase and after first and second trim, and commenced light work to assist with weight loss.

10.01.2022 Trim on a Clydesdale mare that has missed a few cycles.

09.01.2022 Merry Christmas from HM Equine Services! May you have had Christmas with family and/or friends, and travel safe on the roads! I look forward to seeing you in the new year

09.01.2022 Here's a little (read: long and angry) post about what I like to call the spring time shuffle. Around this time of year, every year, two things happen. 1. We ...get complaints from a handful of (generally predictable) people whose horses have been trimmed just fine for the last several months suddenly saying their horse was "trimmed too short" this last visit. And 2. We get a massive influx of enquiries from new clients who are looking for a new farrier because their last farrier "trimmed them too short". Now, I can understand this logic if you're either new to horses, or this happens on the first visit with a new farrier without warning. However, all the rest of you, need your annual reality check. (I honestly think y'all also need a reality check on realistic "soundness" expectations but I'll save that for another grumpy day). It is the annual shuffling of clients between all the local farriers' books, because the clients don't want to face the real reason why their horse is shuffling around the paddock. No farrier wakes up EVERY NOVEMBER and just randomly starts trimming horses shorter than they did the WHOLE REST OF THE YEAR. Generally we have spent the entire preceding year telling you the one same message while you shout "LALALA" back at us with your fingers in your ears. YOUR HORSE IS TOO FAT! Post-trimming sensitivity is one of the most obvious warning signs that you will get for subclinical laminitis. When this warning is left unchecked, guess what follows? ACTUAL Laminitis. We have become so disconnected as a society as to what healthy and appropriate body weight REALLY is. My masters degree research found that most horse owners could accurately identify their horses body condition score on a on a scare of 0-5 where 5 is obese. Some would even jokingly ask me if they could write 6. However when asked about the appropriateness of their horses body weight most of these high scorers felt their horses body weight was just fine. I see the same thing day in day out as a hoof care practitioner. And the reactions from owners range from flat out denial ("Cobs are meant to look like this, they have big bones" ... Bones don't jiggle Karen!) to just outright offence as though I've personally insulted them or "their horse" or that I am an unkind person for "fat shaming". Your horses feelings aren't hurt. You just don't want to face the truth because it makes you uncomfortable. It is very sad for our horses that being able to see their ribs from a certain angle has now become more offensive to people than seeing the myriad of health and wellbeing issues humans are creating by letting their horses suffer through chronic obesity and a constant state of low grade laminitis. We need to look back to what nature intended for animals (and ourselves). We have an abundance of carb-rich food in spring following the clear lack of food during winter. Wild / Feral horses would typically lose a lot of body condition during winters. They have minimal grass access and often rely on on fibrous and low-carb mosses, roots, leaves, bark, and their body fat reserves. When animals are consuming less carbohydrates they become more insulin sensitive. When you're insulin sensitive you don't need as much insulin in your system to regulate blood sugar. Then spring comes along and body weight is rapidly packed back on with rich grasses. And with constant and excessive consumption of carbs comes insulin resistance. Which means more and more and more insulin has to get produced to keep blood sugar under control. In our domestic horses we're so afraid to let our horses slim down in the winter, and keep them in a chronic state of obesity and insulin resistance year round. Because we hard feed them all winter to maintain their "condition" spring hits and they never became insulin sensitive enough to deal with it. We can also see this insulin resistance in some athletic horses who are fed high carbohydrate diets also - its the horse equivalent of the "skinny-fat" human. The human peak marathon runner who carb loads and gets diabetes and heart disease. Sadly, many of the horses we see with these problems are on "feeding plans" owners have developed themselves using a generic website (often funded by specific feed companies), from vets, or equine nutritionists (who often work for feed companies). You can see the owners well-meaning intent and that's why this breaks my heart. The nutritionists who I respect and recommend are the ones who are the first to tell you that you do not add to your horses diet unless they aren't meeting their metabolic requirements from grass and plain hay first. If I have one more client with a fat, laminitic horse tell me their horse isn't fat and that they paid someone for their feeding plan of processed feeds, I will lose my shit. I am SO passionate about your horses health, that this makes me angry! (And don't get me started on the inflammatory responses from most of these refined oils that get added cause for some reason people think shiny = healthy). And most people (including many professionals) are either ignorant of, or overlook, the roll of insulin on hoof sensitivity. Yet the fact that high levels of insulin lead to inflammation is widely know and accepted. And what IS laminitis? INFLAMMATION OF THE LAMINAE. Your farrier has nothing to financially gain by telling you stop feeding your dadgum horse! Yet we get ignored to the point we often stop commenting to people. And then people say "Why didn't you warn me!?" Then we hit the tail end of spring, and bingo, another year, another bunch of shuffling underworked and over fed horses, and another year of farriers suddenly shuffling a bunch of desperate "my-last-farrier-trimmed-my-horse-too-short-I-need-your-help" new clients in and a bunch of grumpy "you-caused-this-problem" ones out. It is no coincidence that all the species of animals that man controls the diet of are the ones that regularly suffer from metabolic malfunctions. We are so smart that we are incredibly fucking dumb sometimes. I also have a LOT of clients who will ask at each trim if I see any signs of laminitis in the feet. The thing is I can tell you there are low grade warning signs all year but nothing *new* today, and your horse could still go lame tomorrow. The biggest warning signs I constantly see are your horses weight, your feed bucket, and how dry your saddle blanket always is if you bother to exercise your horse at all. But you don't listen to this. You only seem to listen (for a week or three) if I can physically point out blood in the white line. So, here's my rant for the day. We are getting generally shitty with overwork by the end of the year and in need of a christmas holiday, and we are disillusioned with all these "unexpected" lamenesses in valley full of improved dairy pasture in the middle of unprecedented spring growth. It needed to come out. Someone has to say it. I don't give a shit if I've hurt your feelings, because I want to save your horses life.

02.01.2022 Looking after you horse takes a team, especially when one of your team members goes on break to have a baby! Here is Nicole from Rock On Equine Services - sports therapy + trimming "Lucky", who I have been trimming whilst Nicole couldnt bend over. Nicole is now getting back into the rhythm of things "post foaling". Great to see her out and about at the beginning of summer and thankyou for letting me help! It is wonderful when fellow hoof care practitioners can work together to get things done!

01.01.2022 2 weeks of placement in Tamworth down, 2 weeks to go! Over the last few days, I have been fortunate to land a gig working some lovely little stockhorses for someone whilst they’re away. Scarlett (left) and Sequin (right) are superb little ladies who are a pleasure to ride and work with whilst I’m away from my own ponies!